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そのときに歴史の先生がこう呟きながら連れて行かれます。

Source: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xs-XWk_oQA> 1:17

I'm assuming it's the word 斯う meaning "in this way," and here it would be
describing how the teacher said the quote to follow. Is this こう anything like
the quotative like in English that can be used for either literal quotes or
paraphrasing? For example, "He was like, 'When is history not essential?'"


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usage kosoado
What does こう mean in this sentence?


Yes, your understanding about こう (I've never seen it written as 斯う though)
meaning "like this" is correct, however in some cases it can be more thought
of as "as follows" or "as below".

Here is a simple example:

[code]

    そして、僕はこう言った。      [And then, I spoke.]
    「日本語なんて難しすぎるよ」   [Japanese is just too difficult!]
    
[/code]

As in this example, often it's tricky to translate since saying "I spoke this"
sounds unnatural, but you'll be fine if you understand it can be used to refer
to something that follows immediately.

Another example:

[code]

    「僕」という字はこう書くよ    [This is how you write the character　”僕”]
    
[/code]

In this case, the speaker is likely writing the character as they speak.


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「こう」is the **adverbial** form of the こ-series（これ、この、ここ、ect.). A close literal
match in English is 'thusly' (in this way).


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